Parties clash in towering battle

CONSERVATIVE candidate Stephen Reid claims a "blot on the landscape" tower block of flats should be dubbed Prescott Tower if it goes ahead.

He stoked Reading's pre-election fires by saying an 11-storey high rise building in Lower Brook Street opposed by Labour MP Martin Salter and by some Labour councillors was all John Prescott's fault.

Mr Reid said the Deputy Prime

Minister was forcing councils to build high numbers of homes on previous industrial sites in town centres, known as brownfield sites.

Mr Reid, prospective parliamentary candidate for Reading West, sparked a furious attack from Mr Salter who accused him of jumping on the bandwagon after he backed campaigners fighting plans for 96 flats on the old ironworks site next to the River Kennet.

Mr Reid said: "The proposed tower block is an appalling throwback to the 1960s and must be turned down. It is right that we should use brownfield sites but it is impossible to achieve John Prescott's numbers without compromising the quality of life for everyone.

"I warned the council many months ago that if Labour's planning policies prevailed, it was a recipe for tower blocks. John Prescott persists in forcing high numbers of homes on to the region and then insists that they be built on brownfield sites."

Mr Reid added: "If this monstrosity is built it should be called Prescott Tower in honour of a Government that is blighting our town with its planning policies."

Mr Salter, who supported demonstrators at a protest on Friday, accused Mr Reid of trying to turn a local planning issue into a party political wrangle.

He said: "This latest outburst from our friend from Basingstoke really takes the biscuit for bandwagon jumping. The Tory party has been demanding no greenfield development whatso- ever in the South East and insisting that everything is crammed into our already overcrowded urban areas. They are in no position to lecture anyone on planning policies."

Mr Salter said all political parties had agreed the importance of re-using brownfield sites for housing but that did not imply unrestrained development or tower blocks.

He added: "The site in Lower Brook Street is currently a glorified rubbish tip but it is entirely suitable for housing. Our argument with the developers is over the density of housing proposed and the visual intrusion of this monstrous tower block."

Catherine Wilton, Reading borough councillor for Minster ward, said: "People don't want a tower block at the end of their road. It is over-development which would overshadow the surrounding buildings and is unsuitable for a nice spot by the riverside."

Campaigners flew balloons at the height of the proposed tower block to show that it would be visible from all over Reading.

Romilly Swann, one of the protesters from Lower Brook Street, said: "Somebody rang us from London Street and said they could see the balloons. This building would stick out like a sore thumb."

Mrs Swann is drafting alternative plans showing how around 56 flats, including some for people on the council waiting list, could be fitted into the site.

Reading planners have received an application from Kingsoak Thames Valley, part of Barratt Homes Ltd of Maidenhead, for three blocks of flats on the site - 60 for private sale in an

ultra-modern aluminium-clad 11-storey block, 12 for sale in another smaller block and 24 affordable flats for people on the waiting list.